Destination: Moonbase Alpha (82 page)

‘One thing that should happen in any revival is to bring back that whole universal feel of how many Alphas there are. Somehow, we have to bring that line and make it converge in a way that makes sense of their experiences out in space. For me, it’s very simple. The Moon comes back; they have to leave Terra Alpha; they go to the Moon. The Moon is uninhabitable for various reasons, and they have to make it habitable. Whether it’s occupied or not is another matter – occupied by something that is not Alphan – but they have to survive the problems of how they reconstruct Moonbase Alpha after 25 years. What is it that needs doing? What are the dangers that are out there, implicit in the fact that nobody has been on the Moon for 25 years? What has gone seriously wrong?

‘That whole journey thereafter is one fraught with not just threats from the external universe, but also from the internal universe. And also from the complicated make-up of the people themselves, many of whom will have lived a completely different existence. And so all of this is a very rich dramatic mix, and it’s fantastic grist to the mill. I don’t see that as a problem. I see it as something so useable and makeable and doable.’

Review:
Regarded by many fans as the forty-ninth episode of
Space: 1999
, and series canon, ‘Message from Moonbase Alpha’ brings the programme full-circle from the premiere of ‘Breakaway’. In that first episode, one of the main plots involved the Meta Signal being received by Earth and Moonbase Alpha, seemingly transmitted from the approaching planet Meta. As is revealed here, the Meta Signal is actually a message from Moonbase Alpha, transmitted back in time and space, and being received at Earth in 1999, just before the Moon breaks out of orbit. This is a superb piece of symmetry from writer Johnny Byrne, bringing the series both to an end and a new beginning.

Byrne’s script is perfectly matched by the screen presence of Zienia Merton. Always a great favourite of fans, Merton was the perfect choice to star in this film. Her performance depicts a slightly older Sandra with subtle edges to her, adding layers beyond those obvious in the dialogue. Merton poignantly conveys the emotions not only of Sandra Benes, but also of all the Alphans.

With this script, Byrne succeeds in summing up and drawing to a close the journey of Moonbase Alpha. He maintains the integrity of the series, while also adding to its mythology. He gives the Alphans, finally, that new world they were searching for. However, it is a world that will hold many challenges, and the stage is set for future stories …

Byrne championed ‘Message from Moonbase Alpha’ as a launching off point for a new series. He envisaged that this would pick up 25 years after the colonisation of Terra Alpha, when the gravitational slingshot effect would return the Moon to the same point in space. Life is difficult on the planet and the Terra Alphans are divided over whether to stay there or return to the Moonbase. Koenig remains to lead those who stay behind, because
Helena has passed away and he won’t leave her grave. Many others however – both old characters and a new generation – do decide to return to the Moonbase, embarking once again on a journey through the galaxy on Earth’s runaway Moon, encountering whatever lies ahead. Byrne speculates in the commentary below that those who returned to the Moonbase would face threats both external and internal as they worked to repair and update the base, and would discover that it was now also inhabited by something ‘not Alphan.’The story possibilities inherent in this proposed revival of
Space: 1999
appear even greater than in the original. Unfortunately,
Space: 1999
lost its greatest advocate when Byrne passed away in 2008, and it is doubtful that these concepts will ever result in the new television film and subsequent series he envisioned.

Regardless of whether
Space: 1999
returns in a new form or not, ‘Message from Moonbase Alpha’ will remain a lasting achievement due to the care and talent with which it was produced. This short film was a labour of love on the part of all involved, and Tim Mallett is to be commended for having instigated, produced and directed it. The contributions of Kit Bevan and David McLaughlin in constructing the remarkably accurate reproduction of a Moonbase Alpha set must also be specifically noted and highly praised.

‘Message from Moonbase Alpha’ is most powerful because it is a character piece, driven by a challenging script, a gripping performance, and thoughts, ideas and human emotions. While it runs for only seven minutes, it packs a massive emotional impact, carries unlimited promise for the future, and is a fitting finale for
Space: 1999
.

Rating:
9/10

THE RETURN OF VICTOR BERGMAN

Screenplay by Robert E Wood and Barry Morse

Directed by Robert E Wood

Scheduled Premiere Screening
: Austin, Texas – Friday 16 July 2010 (at the Journey to Where Con).

Cast
:
Barry Morse
(Professor Victor Bergman)

Additional Cast
(in flashbacks):
Martin Landau
(John Koenig),
Barbara Bain
(Helena Russell),
Prentis Hancock
(Paul Morrow),
Zienia Merton
(Sandra Benes),
Nick Tate
(Alan Carter),
Anton Phillips
(Bob Mathias)

Credits
:

Producer
              Anthony Wynn

Editor
              Eric Bernard

Camera Operator
              James Ommert

Story Consultant
              Anthony Wynn

Sound Recordist
              James Ommert

Digital Transfer
              Aaron Carlson

Lighting
              Anthony Wynn

Commlock prop
              Mark Shaw

Video Storage
              Aaron Carlson

Produced by Planet Productions Ltd for Fan Distribution

Filmed at Vulkon,
Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Space: 1999
created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson

Plot
: A Moonbase Alpha Status Report, recorded by Professor Victor Bergman in the year 2030.

Details
: This fan-produced short film features actor Barry Morse reprising his role of Victor Bergman in order to provide fans with a resolution explaining the disappearance of the Professor following Year One. The footage was filmed in Cleveland, Ohio in 2002, following a performance of Morse’s one-man stage play
Merely Players
.

Filming Date
: Saturday 27 April 2002.

JUDGEMENT

If longevity is valued as a sign of success, then
Space: 1999
remains triumphant indeed. Now, decades after the show’s original run ended in 1977, fans continue to gather at conventions around the world to celebrate it. Many people continue to hold Space: 1999 in high regard as the most spectacular space science fiction series ever produced for television. Very few programmes can lay claim to the unyielding endurance of Space: 1999, or the stalwart passion of its fans.

In the opening of this book, both positive and negative critical responses to the series during its original run were presented. Well, the passing of decades hasn’t changed things in this regard, and in this new millennium the show continues to elicit fresh reviews as passionately conflicted as those of the 1970s. Negative views include:

‘Uniquely for a television show,
Space: 1999
always managed to be less than the sum of its title sequences. They were, without exception, pulse-troublingly fab… And each week we would dupe ourselves that yes, this time it would be the funky, sexy experience it promised to be and not the tedious old tommyrot it always was.’
[27]

‘Unfortunately, the science is often insane, and the stories range from intriguing to dumb.’
[28]

‘It’s hard to develop much empathy with a crew who seem as distant as their surroundings … Everything depicted in this show is very flat. Perhaps that was a creative decision to reflect the bleakness of space. While there’s a certain logic to that, from a dramatic standpoint, it doesn’t work. It does look marvellous, though.’
[29]

‘While the first season offered talkative and methodically paced stories, the second season tried to capture the quickly-fading attention span of American viewers with more action and humour – not necessarily a good thing for a serious sci-fi show.’
[30]

‘From the stiff acting to rip-offs of
Star Trek
plotlines to the I-can-see-the-strings special effects, this is painful stuff …
Space: 1999
isn’t so much science fiction as it is science mysticism, with weird things just randomly happening to the Moonbase … If you liked the tone of the last few seasons of
The X-Files
, in which nothing really made sense but everything seemed important, you may appreciate
Space: 1999
’s mystical tendencies… If you’re nostalgic for the days when you could hang an entire episode around a single space warp, go ahead and revisit
Space: 1999
.’
[31]

While those critics continue to be harshly judgmental of the series, there are also many who come up with favourable reviews:

‘
Space: 1999
approached the genre differently, placing its characters in a far less controlled, bleaker situation than ever before. The question for the Alphans, certainly when the series was at its best, was never “What do we find out now?” but rather “How do we survive long enough to find it out?” The first season plays this card particularly strongly, and enters some surprisingly dark territory as a result. The series would move away from this theme but at its best,
Space: 1999
remains a combination of sheer pulp energy and some genuinely surprising, very human stories.’
[32]

‘Space: 1999
was less science fiction than a trippy journey through the Me Decade, with plots that focused inordinately on mind control, demonic possession, the quest for nirvana, would-be messiahs and other hallmarks of an era of expanding consciousness. The whole notion of the Moon cut loose reflected a Watergate-era mentality of unprecedented chaos … Commander John Koenig and Dr Helena Russell were, in effect, parent figures, looking for a new Eden where their charges could be fruitful and multiply.’
[33]

‘
Space: 1999
is as good-looking and lush as any series of the 1970s … At the very least, the show must be given its due for visual splendour and general ambition. Its contemporaneous fans included the peerless rocket scientist Wernher von Braun; a notable naysayer was SF writer Isaac Asimov, who unnecessarily picked the show apart on scientific grounds in a 1975 piece for the New York Times. Asimov was nitpicking. Braun, conversely, remarked that the show “characterises mankind’s exploration of space.” We tend to the latter view.’
[34]

‘The DVD release will electrify the legions of cultists in this country and abroad who have grabbed on to the show as if it were Star Trek … “They wanted the TV successor to
2001: A Space Odyssey
,” said Scott Bosco, a writer and consultant on DVD projects … “They wanted grand sets and costumes and special effects not even seen in films, an action series but cerebral and driven through theory and mysticism, raising questions of life and the creation of the universe …” Today the show looks remarkably good, a testament to the expense of each episode … [And] for the first year,
Space: 1999
tackled big issues. Lead characters performed nobly.’
[35]

‘The first batch offers eight or nine of the greatest pieces of TV science fiction ever put on film. The superb effects are obvious, as is the starkly impressive design of Main Mission, but it’s easy to overlook the arc-plot embracing the first season. It’s understated and entirely dependent on seeing certain episodes in the correct order.’
[36]

‘
Space: 1999
was without doubt the most lavish television series made up to that point. Its tremendously high production values, including absolutely first-rate model work and special effects, stand up particularly well … The original concepts and storylines were a first in TV terms and its thinking person’s approach to sci-fi is easily the nearest any television series has come to the science-fiction of the literary world.’
[37]

While the critics will undoubtedly continue to be divided over its merits – as they always have been – the fact is that these 48 episodes from the 1970s (through all their highs and lows) continue to generate fervent discussion, rather than fading into history. So long as this discourse continues, the series will remain as vital and as stimulating as when it began, and so long as there is an audience enjoying it
, Space: 1999
can be judged a triumph and the odyssey of Moonbase Alpha will continue.